Another Deadly Writer's Retreat

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

Pages: 371 Genre: mystery thriller

Rating: 3 Star

Renowned, anonymous author J. R. Alastor is planning a writers retreat on his private island for six of the world's most famous thriller authors. He's recruited Mila del Angél to help him — an event planner and aspiring writer who also has an ax to grind with one the attendees. But every one of the authors has something to hide. Mila and Alastor have a week of manipulative and trope-fueled riddles planned, and Mila sees it as the perfect time to cover up her intended murder. But things go sideways when someone turns up dead, and it's not the dead body Mila was planning on. The island is cut off, which means Mila and the others must outwit an author who literally knows every trick in the book.

I was looking for a book that was just a fun mystery, and this certainly qualified. The atmosphere was really well done, and the thriller aspect was really strong. And while I did have fun reading it, I don't think the execution was particularly spectacular.

The whole plot centered around the various secrets that the authors were holding, but this aspect of it still never felt fully realized to me. It was almost too secretive, somehow. There was no investigations, or even big fights where they reveal or force out secrets from one another. All the big reveals were either well-timed in narration or unearned conversations where someone just felt like sharing. It felt like we were stumbling upon them, which was a shame since that was the primary motivation for the whole story.

The stakes also weren't as good as they seemed to be. Sure, getting picked off in the game is scary (and it was, although I am sometimes easily spooked). But people were pretty guaranteed to die. Their actions didn't seem to matter, so there was no reward for the investigation. If this book wasn't positioned as a mystery, it would've been fine. But since the characters were primarily driven by the desire to solve a mystery, it made the whole thing feel futile.

It also felt like there was a line drawn between the "good" mistakes and the "bad" mistakes. In order to get us to root for someone, it seemed their sins were given a lot more forgiveness. And I get it, but I also wanted us to commit more to the "all these people are evil" thing.

Overall, this book was really not that bad. I liked it, and while it could be pretty predictable or cliche at times, it was still enjoyable to read. If you're looking for a fun play on a mystery, this is a pretty good choice.